Want to Dock your Boat like a Pro? Try This!!!
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- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
- In this video we demonstrate how to dock your boat with the centre line technique.
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#howto #dock #boat #centreline #technique #howtosail #learntosail #sailingtips
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Thank you. I've been a dinghy sailor all my life but at 62 I had to give up the dinghy and I bought my fist small keel boat. Docking is really not the same. I really struggled but I sort of thought the center point was key. thanks for confirming.
It’s the technique that has worked best for me - good luck!
Thanks for shareing this. Personally i dont think that there is a single technique that works always. Better know and use multiple techniques depending on wind direction, boat and type of dock.
When docking I find it most comfortable to first fix the aft line (relatively tight) and then keep the engine in slow forward. This gently presses the boat sideways to the dock and it will not swing at all, neither does it move fwd or aft. Very relaxing in this situation to fix the other required lines. But again, it depends on the boat and dock etc!
…ah, and also it is easier for me to use the aft line, because i can fix that without leaving the cockpit
Yes definitely depends on your boat, the dock, and the situation. This is the technique I used in my home slip for about 10 years which has a prevailing wind and current that pushes the boat off the dock.
Watching the process with, or after, the narrative would be nice as well. Very helpful.
Good suggestion thanks!
I do something similar. I have an assigned slip so I leave my spring lines on the dock. My springs are a single line with a mid-point eye spliced in. The ends of the line are attached to cleats so that the eye is where I want my mid-ships cleat. I use 8 strand (brait) line so I can easily do a brummel splice in the middle of the line. When I come in I stop the boat, step off and attach the eye in the spring line to my mid ships cleat. I then tie off the stern and bow lines and the boat is moored. Leaving is the opposite. I sail a 36' full keel ketch.
That sounds like a great variant of this technique!!!
Agree--we use the midship cleat approach with our heavy full-keel 32-footer.
For some reason here on the west coast of BC (Canada) many marinas don't install cleats. Generally what's available for tying dock lines is a beat-up, cracked and splintery wooden railing. If you use braided dock lines, they fill with splinters which then immediately find their way into the palms of the crew. Three-strand line picks up fewer splinters and catches less, so we use that. Anyway, cleats seem like a luxury around here 😁
I know it’s annoying that many marinas don’t have cleats! I covertly installed my own midship cleat in the last marina I was in and removed it when I left. I just used lag bolts but it was only for coming and going and I slackened it once the other lines were on.
This is too true. Checking in from Northern BC coast 👍🏻
When using a midship line aft to a dock cleat on arrival, if you put the engine in forward idle after you secure the line, the boat will stay in position while you tend to the other dock lines.
Yes that’s a good technique!
Brilliant tip...Kudos for sharing!
Glad you liked it - worked well for me for the past decade or more!
Thank you..good tip
Glad you liked it!
Fantastic, thank you for the tips
Glad you find them helpful!
I think a docking lesson must discuss the effect of prop walk before anything. Prop walk is a major tool.
Yes prop walk is an excellent tool not only for docking, but sharp maneuvering in a marina! I’ll look for an opportunity to do a video on that.
Single handed on my first boat with no instructions or experience it came naturally to use the center line first for docking and last for leaving. It sounds like common sense to me.
I agree that it’s common sense but it’s not commonly taught in learn to sail programs!
That’s the way 👍
It’s worked really well for me for the past decade!
I still like to put the bow and stern rope on, just to make sure the boat doesn't swing out too much especially if the tide is strong, and it would help prevent the boat moving forwards or backwards too
Yes you definitely want to attach the bow, stern, and spring lines as quickly as possible once the centre line is taught and the boat is under control. The boat can't really go anywhere with the centre line taught, but it's not a permanent docking solution, only to buy you some time to get the other lines on.
Nice video. Next one on docking a31’ trimaran solo alongside in a 15 knot off dock wind? Or solo in sluice/lock.
Thanks! I did regularly use this technique to dock my 42’ monohull in a 20 knot off-the-dock wind and 1.5 knot off-the dock current at my last marina! Trimarans are a bit trickier though because they are lighter and get blown around more, plus they are more square so it’s easier to whack the bow or stern on the dock. The key for me in either type of boat is to keep moving at around 1.5 knots or more until the last second to keep your foils working and maintain steerage. I still use this technique on my F-82R though with the dock line around the forward beam. Thankfully we don’t have many sluices or locks around here!
@@SailingTipsCa We can share thoughts on my 'tri solo docking quest' in PM? for your next video. You want?
@@RobertdeVries-trimaran-sailing For sure let's connect offline!
You don’t know what the wind is going to before you untie?
Yes you definitely need to take the wind into account! In my slip you have to back the boat out regardless of which direction the wind is blowing, so my approach is to untie everything so the only thing left holding the boat is the centre line, then see which way the bow blows (e.g. towards or away from the dock). Then I give the bow a shove in the opposite direction compensate for how the wind will blow the bow in the time it takes to release the line and start backing out with enough water flow over the rudder and keel to control the boat.
Cleats have "horns" not "ears"
You're right "horns" is technically more correct although I've seen both terms used. Sometimes different geographies use different terms on a colloquial basis.
Curious: do you add slack to the center line once you finish getting the other lines in? Or leave it taught? I thought that a little slack was good.
Yes definitely - the center line is typically slack except when actively using it to leave or return to the dock!
@@SailingTipsCa Great video and thoughtful instructions. The idea of a 'centerline' is easier to teach to a new crew than spring lines, so that's really helpful. You made this point, but I would emphasize it even more: once you are finished parking, the center line should be slackened (or removed) and proper spring lines put in place. If you were to leave the center line tied up tightly, then the force of a large wave could cause damage as the boat would be too closely connected to the dock while the boat and dock are rising and falling at different intervals.
@@1kfarrel You're exactly right! I should have done a better job of emphasizing that the center line is only tight 1) before you leave the dock and remove the other lines and 2) Immediately after you return to the dock, and before you secure the other lines. In other words, its primary use is the last-line-off and first-line-on, but is slackened at all other times!
@@SailingTipsCa yep, and as part of my sailing education, I damaged a toe rail once in the way described here.😉
@@1kfarrel That's the great thing about sailing - it's a constant educational process!!!
👍👍
Glad you liked it!
All this talk but not show
Can you elaborate? I thought I did show as I stepped off the boat?